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The Nexus of Pop Culture and the Uncharted UniverseTue, 31 Mar 2015 17:59:10 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=2015.14Our Own Eric Smith’s Geek’s Guide to Dating Gets a Great Review on Bullseye! - Worlds collide! It's like a Venn Diagram of stuff we love overlapping!http://www.themarysue.com/geeks-guide-to-dating-bullseye/
http://www.themarysue.com/geeks-guide-to-dating-bullseye/#commentsWed, 20 Nov 2013 16:58:28 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=185409Geek Guide to Dating or the NPR show Bullseye With Jesse Thorn, so imagine our surprise and delight yesterday when the book got a glowing recommendation on the show by Boing Boing's Mark Frauenfelder. Listen to the segment right here.]]>

We haven’t exactly been shy about our love for our contributing writer Eric Smith’s Geek’s Guide to Dating or the NPR show Bullseye With Jesse Thorn, so imagine our surprise and delight yesterday when the book got a glowing recommendation on the show by Boing Boing’sMark Frauenfelder. Listen to the segment right here.

Each week on Bullseye, host Jesse Thorn, or in this case guest host Jordan Morris, invites a culture critic or two to recommend something they like. This week, that critic was Frauenfelder who frequently fills this role on the show to recommend games, apps, and even pencils. He talked about our friend’s book, and it made us really happy. Here’s the clip so you can listen to it and get really happy too.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/geeks-guide-to-dating-bullseye/feed/0Protect Your Home from a Zombie Apocalypse [Video]http://www.themarysue.com/zombie-apocalypse-video/
http://www.themarysue.com/zombie-apocalypse-video/#commentsThu, 23 Dec 2010 21:32:16 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=44132
I hate it when zombies try to attack while I'm making pie. Team Unicorn gives us a simple how-to lesson on dealing with the undead during the holidays. Includes: Zombie vs. Drunk.
(via BoingBoing)]]>

I hate it when zombies try to attack while I’m making pie. Team Unicorn gives us a simple how-to lesson on dealing with the undead during the holidays. Includes: Zombie vs. Drunk.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/zombie-apocalypse-video/feed/0Geek Wreathhttp://www.themarysue.com/geek-wreath/
http://www.themarysue.com/geek-wreath/#commentsWed, 08 Dec 2010 14:33:55 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=42068
Redditor avatarr's friend made this geekiest of wreaths for her company's IT department out of computer components. Someone is going to get great tech support this year.
(Reddit via Laughing Squid)]]>

Redditor avatarr‘s friend made this geekiest of wreaths for her company’s IT department out of computer components. Someone is going to get great tech support this year.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/geek-wreath/feed/0Airplane, With All the Jokes Taken Outhttp://www.themarysue.com/airplane-jokes-taken-out/
http://www.themarysue.com/airplane-jokes-taken-out/#commentsSun, 10 Oct 2010 21:02:47 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=35866
Turns out, there are fourteen whole minutes of Airplane that don't have jokes in them.
We never would have guessed.
(via BoingBoing.)]]>

Turns out, there are fourteen whole minutes of Airplane that don’t have jokes in them.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/airplane-jokes-taken-out/feed/0Teachers Find Homeless Dalek in Their Schoolhttp://www.themarysue.com/dalek-in-school/
http://www.themarysue.com/dalek-in-school/#commentsSat, 25 Sep 2010 18:26:04 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=34393
Teachers at the West Exe Learning Centre in St. Thomas, England have a problem. It's not that a Dalek has appeared somewhat spontaneously on their campus, threatening all with it's inevitable waking into full exterminating consciousness. It's that no one has come forth to claim it.
Says Sue Wiley, deputy manager of the Centre:

"We'd like to return him to his owner if possible because he's taking up quite a lot of room and is living in a cupboard at the moment."

]]>

Teachers at the West Exe Learning Centre in St. Thomas, England have a problem. It’s not that a Dalek has appeared somewhat spontaneously on their campus, threatening all with it’s inevitable waking into full exterminating consciousness. It’s that no one has come forth to claim it.

“We’d like to return him to his owner if possible because he’s taking up quite a lot of room and is living in a cupboard at the moment.”

If the emotionless space-faring monstrosity cannot be linked with its actual owner, Wiley supposed that “maybe we could give it to some charity or organisation that can do something with him.” School administrators noted that the alien is big enough to sit in, and a little damaged here and but still certainly worth something to someone (perhaps a few hundred pounds). No Dalek thefts have been reported in the area.

To branch out to a completely separate bit of British Sci-Fi, perhaps someone could get him a thumb?

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/dalek-in-school/feed/1FDA May Be Close to Approving Genetically Altered Salmon for Public Consumptionhttp://www.themarysue.com/fda-approved-genetically-altered-salmon/
http://www.themarysue.com/fda-approved-genetically-altered-salmon/#commentsWed, 08 Sep 2010 16:32:57 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=32515 The Food and Drug Administration is close to approving genetically altered salmon for human consumption, which would make it the first genetically modified animal approved for use as food.
AquaBounty, a Massachusetts company, wanted federal approval to sell genetically engineered salmon to the public, claiming the salmon are perfectly safe for human consumption as well as the environment. A team of FDA scientists have agreed with the claims and are going to present the case for approval on September 19.
The Atlantic salmon, orAquAdvantage Salmon as AquaBounty calls it, is reportedly no different from regular salmon, except they've been given a gene from the ocean pout to prevent freezing, as well as a growth gene from the Chinook salmon that allows the salmon to grow twice as fast as Atlantic salmon.]]> The Food and Drug Administration is close to approving genetically altered salmon for human consumption, which would make it the first genetically modified animal approved for use as food.

AquaBounty, a Massachusetts company, wanted federal approval to sell genetically engineered salmon to the public, claiming the salmon are perfectly safe for human consumption as well as the environment. A team of FDA scientists have agreed with the claims and are going to present the case for approval on September 19.

The Atlantic salmon, orAquAdvantage Salmon as AquaBounty calls it, is reportedly no different from regular salmon, except they’ve been given a gene from the ocean pout to prevent freezing, as well as a growth gene from the Chinook salmon that allows the salmon to grow twice as fast as Atlantic salmon.

Aside from being a possible catalyst for an apocalyptic, fish-based future, the possible approval of the GM fish is being received negatively in some quarters. A Dartmouth College professor and international expert on genetically altered species, Anne Kapuscinski, claims the FDA isn’t necessarily able to fully determine the affects the AquAdvantage Salmon may have on the environment.

Though the US has previously approved genetically modified vegetation, if the altered salmon pass, other companies will be expecting their genetically modified creations to pass as well, such as University of Guelph‘s genetically altered hog that produces less harmful manure.

In theory, genetically enhanced food could lead to healthier lifestyles, but it could also lead to, you know, mutant animals rising up against their oppressors. We’re not sure which one we’re looking forward to more.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/geekolinks-814/feed/0Reporter Has Real-Life Yakuza Fact-Check Yakuza 3http://www.themarysue.com/real-yakuza-3/
http://www.themarysue.com/real-yakuza-3/#commentsTue, 10 Aug 2010 20:34:03 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=29444
Tokyo-based crime reporter Jake Adelstein is no stranger to the Japanese criminal underworld. So when Boing Boing recruited him to pall around with three high-ranking yakuza friends for a little experiment, we were thoroughly impressed. After several rounds of cigarettes and whiskey in the reception area of a "real estate agency" -- in fact a front company for the mob -- the yakuza bosses were offering Adelstein their impressions of the Playstation 3 video game Yakuza 3, originally released in early 2009.]]>

Tokyo-based crime reporter Jake Adelstein is no stranger to the Japanese criminal underworld. So when Boing Boing recruited him to pall around with three high-ranking yakuza friends for a little experiment, we were thoroughly impressed. After several rounds of cigarettes and whiskey in the reception area of a “real estate agency” — in fact a front company for the mob — the yakuza bosses were offering Adelstein their impressions of the Playstation 3 video game Yakuza 3, originally released in early 2009.
Two of the gangsters weren’t able to complete the game, perhaps due in part to their missing fingers, but we’ve nonetheless excerpted some of their commentary below:

In order to protect their identities, the video game reviewers were referred to by nicknames. Warning: the excerpts contain NSFW language.

On the environment

Kuroishi: It’s like going back in time. Koma Theater is there, the pink salons, the Pronto Coffee shops, the Shinjuku Batting center, the love hotels.

Shirokawa: You got your salaryman in there, the delinquent school girl and her sugar daddy, Chinese people, and even those Nigerian touts. What’s with all the fucking gaijin (foreigners) in the area anyway? It used to be just Japanese, Koreans and Chinese.

On power-ups

Midoriyama: I like the fact that you power up by eating real food. Shio ramen gives you a lot of power — CC Lemon, not as much. It all makes sense.

S: The breaded pork cutlet bento box is like mega power. More than ramen. That’s accurate.

K: If they had shabu (crystal meth) as a power-up item, that would be realistic. It’s a yakuza game.

M: Can you smoke in the game? I forget. That should be a power-up.
S: Cigarettes and shabu should be in every yakuza game.

On depiction of yakuza

M: The corporate yakuza guys get a thumbs up for realism. Nice suit. Smart. Financially savvy. Obsessed with money. Sneaky and conniving. Ruthless.

S: There are a lot of guys whom I feel like I know. The dialogue is right too. They sound like yakuza.
K: Braggarts, bullies, and sweet-talkers. I agree — it feels like I know the guys on the screen.

On fighting

S: Nobody ever dies. It’s unrealistic.
K: Kiryu is fighting all the time. He’s gotta be a fucking idiot. No yakuza is going to run around getting into fistfights like that. Especially not an executive type. He’ll wind up in jail or in the hospital or dead, maybe even whacked by his own people for being a troublemaker. These days, he’d probably get kicked out before even going to jail. Guys like that start gang wars and nobody wants that now. When a yakuza gets into a fight, it’s serious business.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/geekolinks-74/feed/0Despite a Torrent of Reviews, Tech Elite Withold Final Judgement on iPadhttp://www.themarysue.com/ipad-reviews-good-bad/
http://www.themarysue.com/ipad-reviews-good-bad/#commentsThu, 01 Apr 2010 20:29:21 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=10994
For a little while now, the elite of the tech journalism world have been behind closed doors, testing the Apple iPad ahead of its release this Saturday. And after sitting down with the device -- which Apple is trumpeting as the future of computing, while critics fear it as foretelling the coming infantilization of user interfaces -- they're actually pretty impressed! Here's what the Important Tech Writers of Our Time have been saying:]]>

For a little while now, the elite of the tech journalism world have been behind closed doors, testing the Apple iPad ahead of its release this Saturday. And after sitting down with the device — which Apple is trumpeting as the future of computing, while critics fear it as foretelling the coming infantilization of user interfaces — they’re actually pretty impressed! Here’s what the Important Tech Writers of Our Time have been saying:

David Pogue – The New York Times
Pogue writes, “The Apple iPad is basically a gigantic iPod Touch.” For him, while the iPad is limited in terms of content creation, it’s a wonder at allowing consumers to consume that content.

“…the techies are right about another thing: the iPad is not a laptop. It’s not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it — books, music, video, photos, Web, e-mail and so on.”

Walt Mossberg – WSJ and All Things D
Mossberg found that the longer he used the iPad, the less need he had for a laptop, reserving the latter for heavier editing and, again, content creation. For him, it all depends on how you use your computer.

“All in all, however, the iPad is an advance in making more-sophisticated computing possible via a simple touch interface on a slender, light device. Only time will tell if it’s a real challenger to the laptop and netbook.”

Edward Baig with Jefferson Graham – USA Today
Baig writes that the iPad is not about what you can do, but how you do it. He notes that finding a space between smartphones and laptops is treading in unmarked territory, but that Apple “nails” it here.

“Apple has pretty much nailed it with this first iPad, though there’s certainly room for improvement. Nearly three years after making a splash with the iPhone, Apple has delivered another impressive product that largely lives up to the hype.”

Xeni Jardin – Boing Boing
Jardin writes a rather laudatory review, stressing the beauty and “sensuality” of the overall iPad experience while also hankering for what the iPad has yet to achieve.

“I like it a lot. But it’s the things I never knew it made possible — to be revealed or not in the coming months — that will determine whether I love it.”

Each piece touches on these flaws and merits:

Multitasking is out

No camera means no web conferencing

Although some companies are retooling their sites to be iPad-compatible, Flash remains the web video standard for now

The interface is speedy and beautiful

Watching movies, interacting with websites, and even reading e-books are a delight…but anything more intense might require something else

The form factor is a comfortable fit for the average consumer

Enormous potential as a hardware and software platform

But! Almost every major reviewer also wrote something to the effect of: “Eh…I can’t quite decide yet.” (See Mossberg’s “Only time will tell.”)

Are tech journalists refusing to make tough decisions on the most important product launch in years? Or would it actually just be asinine to predict the success of the first shot in the tablet revolution — tantamount to predicting the impact of the GUI in 1969, or Bubble Memory in the 70s?

Kids educational website BrainPOP have a great animated short celebrating the life of a historical figure who was English nobility, a child of Lord Byron, a friend of Charles Babbage, a mathematician, the first programmer, and a woman.

Pay attention, Computer Engineer Barbie. This is Ada Lovelace. Programmer of the old school. Yeah, back when it took a room of clockwork to add and subtract. Back when using punch cards was the next big innovation. Respect.

Kids educational website BrainPOP have a great animated short celebrating the life of a historical figure who was English nobility, a child of Lord Byron, a friend of Charles Babbage, a mathematician, the first programmer, and a woman.

Pay attention, Computer Engineer Barbie. This is Ada Lovelace. Programmer of the old school. Yeah, back when it took a room of clockwork to add and subtract. Back when using punch cards was the next big innovation. Respect.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/ada-lovelace-video/feed/0NASA Drafts Our Prime Directivehttp://www.themarysue.com/nasa-drafts-prime-directive/
http://www.themarysue.com/nasa-drafts-prime-directive/#commentsSat, 20 Mar 2010 19:33:10 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=9801NASA has an Office of Planetary Protection. It's where the Officer of Planetary Protection works. And that may be the most awesome thing I've heard all week. Goodnight everybody!
...Just kidding. But there really is an Office of Planetary Protection at NASA, and its job is to keep us from irretrievably screwing up interaction between terrestrial life and extra-terrestrial life (or possible extra-terrestrial life).
Boing Boing has an article up about the ever-changing job of creating the protocol that we use to avoid horrible science fiction disasters.
]]>

NASA has an Office of Planetary Protection. It’s where the Officer of Planetary Protection works. And that may be the most awesome thing I’ve heard all week. Goodnight everybody!

…Just kidding. But there really is an Office of Planetary Protection at NASA, and its job is to keep us from irretrievably screwing up interaction between terrestrial life and extra-terrestrial life (or possible extra-terrestrial life).

The OPP predates the Moon Landings, and its first goal was to make sure we didn’t contaminate other planetary bodies with our stuff. Says John Rummel, a former Planetary Protection Officer, “If you do, you might end up studying your own contamination, rather than what’s really out there.” This goal was expanded to keep us from bringing back stuff that might contaminate our own blue-green planetary body.

NASA’s ideas tend to be from the point of view of pure science. Rummel gave an example:

In 1992, I canceled a document that allowed the PPO to arrest somebody who was exposed to extra-terrestrial life or material… That was originally put into place as a stopgap measure in case somebody who was working on lunar return samples got exposed but didn’t want to go into the quarantine. But I read a dissertation showing how this provision wasn’t in accordance with the Constitution. I found that disturbing.

Margaret Race, an ecologist at SETI, has been waging a campaign “to build a loose network of space scientists, anthropologists, ethicists, legal experts, theologians and others,” to make sure that the scientists act ethically and the ethicists act scientifically, both for the health of our own planet and those we will someday visit.

As we all know, the internet is 90% cats. Here is one of them. It plays a little drum, and it dances a bit. Mostly it plays a keyboard. We suppose that would make it a keyboard cat. But not the first keyboard cat. A second keyboard cat.

...

Accompany our exit with a musical selection, piano feline!

]]>

As we all know, the internet is 90% cats. Here is one of them. It plays a little drum, and it dances a bit. Mostly it plays a keyboard. We suppose that would make it a keyboard cat. But not the first keyboard cat. A second keyboard cat.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/new-keyboard-cat/feed/0Boing Boing Scoops Music Mags on New MGMT Cover Arthttp://www.themarysue.com/mgmt-cover-art-congratulations/
http://www.themarysue.com/mgmt-cover-art-congratulations/#commentsThu, 18 Feb 2010 15:51:37 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=5800Chalk one up for the geeks: while countless music magazines out there would have done anything to get their grubby paws on the cover art for electro-indie band MGMT's upcoming album, Congratulations, they were beaten to the punch -- by geeky curiosity blog Boing Boing. The cover was painted by Trinidad and Tobago-born artist and cartoonist Anthony Ausgang, who told Boing Boing that the band was a pleasure to work with: "A lot of people who commission a painting only know what they don't want; fortunately MGMT knew what they wanted and let me do it my way."Fully sized Congratulations cover art after the jump:]]>Chalk one up for the geeks: while countless music magazines out there would have done anything to get their grubby paws on the cover art for electro-indie band MGMT’s upcoming album, Congratulations, they were beaten to the punch — by geeky curiosity blog Boing Boing.

The cover was painted by Trinidad and Tobago-born artist and cartoonist Anthony Ausgang, who told Boing Boing that the band was a pleasure to work with: “A lot of people who commission a painting only know what they don’t want; fortunately MGMT knew what they wanted and let me do it my way.”

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/mgmt-cover-art-congratulations/feed/0Hip-Hop Battle of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayekhttp://www.themarysue.com/keynes-hayek-rap-battle/
http://www.themarysue.com/keynes-hayek-rap-battle/#commentsWed, 17 Feb 2010 16:19:03 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=5654A brief perusal of Wikipedia shows that John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek never fought each other on Celebrity Deathmatch. If this is something over which you might mourn, the you'll be interested to know that Econstories.tv has a really nicely produced video depicting a rap battle between the two titans of economics.

At first we were worried that we didn't understand enough about economics to post this video. Then we remembered that nobody understands enough about economics, and we felt a little better.

]]>

A brief perusal of Wikipedia shows that John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek never fought each other on Celebrity Deathmatch. If this is something over which you might mourn, the you’ll be interested to know that Econstories.tv has a really nicely produced video depicting a rap battle between the two titans of economics.

At first we were worried that we didn’t understand enough about economics to post this video. Then we remembered that nobody understands enough about economics, and we felt a little better.

Keynes and Hayek appear in a modern Manhattan to attend an economics conference. Intellectual discourse ensues.

"Doris" is a rifle, or, to be more appropriate, a blunderbuss that can be loaded with either a magazine of four ping-pong balls or a barrel-full of confetti.

Also in Alberico's deviantART gallery is his "Black Betty," a handgun equipped with two 40 caliber balls. If you don't have any projectiles for it, it can also simply ignite flash paper. Which allows it to shoot fire.

The video is after the jump. What are you waiting for? ]]>

We’re not joking. Check out the videos after the jump if you don’t believe us.

“Doris” is a rifle, or, to be more appropriate, a blunderbuss that can be loaded with either a magazine of four ping-pong balls or a barrel-full of confetti.

Also in Alberico’s deviantART gallery is his “Black Betty,” a handgun that fires two .40 caliber balls. If you don’t have any projectiles for it, it can also simply ignite flash paper. Which allows it to shoot fire.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/functional-steampunk-guns/feed/0Homemade Robot Walks on Oxygen Tubinghttp://www.themarysue.com/homemade-robot-oxygen-tubing/
http://www.themarysue.com/homemade-robot-oxygen-tubing/#commentsTue, 02 Feb 2010 22:08:59 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=2683
What's got 24 legs made of hospital oxygen tubes, has 6 compressors that were used in Gulf War nerve gas detecting equipment, and won two first prizes at the Hackers' Conference in 2005?
Answer: this incredible robot, designed by roboticist syntience. Video after the jump:]]>What’s got 24 legs made of hospital oxygen tubes, has 6 compressors that were used in Gulf War nerve gas detecting equipment, and won two first prizes at the Hackers’ Conference in 2005?

Answer: this incredible robot, designed by roboticist syntience. Video after the jump:

The infographic whizzes at GOOD have once again teamed up with branding and communication design firm Design Language to turn abstract numbers into compelling visuals: This time, by looking at the amount of money different countries, businesses, and NGOs have given to Haiti. ]]>

The infographic whizzes at GOOD have once again teamed up with branding and communication design firm Design Language to turn abstract numbers into compelling visuals: This time, by looking at the amount of money different countries, businesses, and NGOs have given to Haiti.

As ever in such matters, the side-by-side comparisons are the most intriguing: Private individuals gave more aid money than the UK? China didn’t give as much as UNICEF’s National Committee, which isn’t even all of UNICEF? The small west African nation of Gabon matched Goldman Sachs’ $1 million pledge?